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I Googled “How to make a closing argument” the other night, and an eHow article well summarized what other sites pointed out. Their five tips there could be boiled down to:
- Thank and reconnect with the jury
- Summarize your entire case
- State everything simply; it’s past the time for complex legal definitions
- Refer to your strongest examples of (physical) evidence
- Undercut your opponent’s closing arguments
At this point, you probably don’t have a lot of time left to make your “closing arguments” to your college ministry for the semester. But these tips actually may provide a handy little springboard to thinking through what we want to accomplish in the final days, before students head home and spend weeks away from their new collegiate life! Whether in a final message, a quick recap during the Christmas party, a well crafted email, or a letter sent home, we’ve got the chance to “close the deal” on everything God has been teaching our students.
Here’s what those five points suggest for our own campus ministry “closing arguments”:
1. Reconnect with students
For all the preaching, discipling, serving together, pushing, exhorting, and other impacting you’ve done, it might be worth reminding students that you really do love them and appreciate their involvement in the college ministry.
2. Remind students
I think most of us would be depressed by students lack of recall about what we taught them in large group and small group meetings this semester. Why not spend some moments – or an email or two – reminding them of the things God called you to deliver this semester? Perhaps a last message of this – rather than one NEW thing – could be the best course?
3. Stay simple
Blunt. Clear. With definite application. We really want students to use everything they gained this semester, both from various teachings as well as your experiences together. So it’s probably time to be simple, straightforward, and solid.
4. Get sticky
We don’t just want students to remember what we’ve taught them now, we want it to stick all the way through Finals and the Break and into next semester and all through life… right? So just like a lawyer might point back to the strongest, most shocking evidence, we can very purposely help students remember. Maybe it’s a series of word pictures from the messages, perhaps a handy-dandy memory aid, maybe just the boldest examples you can muster. Whatever the case, now might just be the time to get sticky.
5. Fight the troubles they’ll face
We should remember that the Enemy will start his own argument as soon as we’re done – and he’ll keep fighting all Winter Break. In our “closing arguments,” we should help students prepare for the coming onslaught – which will come against the very things God has been doing this semester. What temptations, trials, and other turmoil will threaten to undermine what you’ve taught them or they’ve learned this semester? Look ahead to the fight, and arm your students accordingly!
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Over the next week, I hope to focus several posts on ways to successfully finish out this portion of the school year, before all the students head to Winter Break and ultimately into their next semester / quarter.
This theme presupposes something that I’m not sure all of us believe: The last days can be used strategically in college ministry, just like the first days of the school year.
So without adding any sort of “fluff” to today’s post, I want to leave a question to ponder on this first school day after Thanksgiving:
How well have you strategized the last days of your semester?
If this is something you haven’t thought through, I urge you to consider it. Or if you’re simply “running great college ministry plays” that have worked before, consider auditing those ideas to make sure it’s your best strategy this time around. What goals do you have in mind for these two weeks? What do you want students to depart knowing, feeling, and/or doing? How are you going to get them there?
I believe how we spend the last two weeks of a semester or quarter can make a lot of difference in students’ lives.
Enjoy the pondering. If I can help, let me know.
And stay tuned for some thoughts on this lil’ topic.
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Like you, I’ll be taking the next few days off and hangin’ with family. So the next post should come on Monday!
But before I go, something to chew on over the break… with another break just over the horizon. It’s this week’s Fridea. Even though it’s Wednesday.
The Fridea? Intentionally prepare students for spiritual success during the Winter Break.
I hope our campus ministries aren’t just about “running the right plays” while students are around and then “planning next semester” when they’re gone. Our students will live several weeks of life away from us; as their main spiritual shepherds, I believe we’re accountable for how they do even in their absence.
I don’t hear this topic discussed all that often, and it’s easier to think about how students are going to use their three summer months well than to ponder the one winter month (or less for those on the Quarter System). But this is a really critical period for students:
- For freshmen, this is their first lengthy time back home. Even those from nearby may have an awkward time adjusting – all the more for those who have been away from home.
- Students are back around their “old lives” – friends, family, locations – that may tempt them to backtrack in their spiritual walk.
- Many students don’t have college ministers at home; even if they do, it’s very hard to connect much during the Winter Break.
- Christmastime can bring all sorts of weirdness / depression all on its own.
- Connections with family and extended family may offer numerous witnessing opportunities.
- Students can easily lose all the spiritual ground they’ve gained in the fall semester during this time.
- On the other hand, this slow month can offer LOTS of time for impact and growth, if that opportunity is taken.
- Students’ spiritual success during Winter Break directly affects your ministry’s entire Spring.
Like those little toy cars, your students may need to be “wound up” with intentional impact so they can putt-putt-putt successfully through the Winter Break. And of course we don’t want them just to coast – we want to prepare them to grow… and come back stronger than ever when they return.
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Last night, I read through nearly all of C. S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. (I had read two chapters earlier in the week; the final 14 took something like 4 hours. It’s a quick read.) I’m actually getting the chance to take my own advice and lead a little reading group in the college ministry I volunteer with. On December 10th (or thereabouts), we’ll be attending the movie, too.
After reading the book again, I figured in the midst of Movie Week I would reiterate that these Chronicles of Narnia books provide excellent fodder for short-run discussion groups. You could easily get students to read this (over the Thanksgiving Break, perhaps?) and still have a meeting or two to discuss the themes. (Read my thoughts on doing that here.) Or if you need a good message or two before the semester or quarter ends, you could always zero in on Voyage themes if they fit where you’re taking your students.
Yes, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a kids’ book. But it’s still C. S. Lewis, and the themes Lewis brings up – and story as a whole – can still be extremely impactful for college students (and their ministers).
If I can help by sharing what my group ends up discussing, just shoot me a message. (It does help a little bit that I’m fairly familiar with Lewis’s writings, but you sure don’t have to be in order to find the themes.) Our group starts Monday, and I’ll be glad to fill you on the directions I’m thinking about. Just let me know.
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Don’t get me wrong: When I attend movies or watch ‘em at home, I usually do it for entertainment. But there are times when I watch something for the sake of ministry or for other spiritual edification – like watching The Social Network for the second time this week, or viewing Temple Grandin with my autistic friend.
It’s Movie Week here at the blog, starting with Monday’s post!
But even when I’m not “on the clock,” watching primarily for these reasons, I would hope that my calling – to the field of college ministry – wouldn’t ever be left too far behind. So lots of times a movie surprises me, because I notice something (or lots of things) that hone my ministry skills in some way or another.
These days, there are lots of movies that give us the chance to learn about, ponder, or (re)discover Millennials… which just happens to be the only sociological generation we campus ministers tend to impact these days. (And it will be for another decade!) Because the oldest of those guys and gals are in their late 20s, Millennials are not only being marketed to, but their ethos is permeating society and is reflected all over. Including in modern film.
So looking for Millennialness in the movies accomplishes at least the following:
- We are reminded of what Millennials are generally like, as films reflect the members of this generation.
- We are reminded of what Millennials want and need, as films either reflect that or try to offer that.
- We see how others (filmmakers, in this case) are targeting Millennials.
- When a film does well among this generation, we have the chance to determine why a movie “fits” or “speaks to” the Millennials.
If there’s a good perpetual training regimen for college ministers, I would say one powerful – but also fun – exercise is understanding our students through the light of popular culture. It takes a little practice and is helped by a little outside info, but remembering to chew on this idea – whether you’re watching The Social Network or Horton Hears a Who – will get your college-ministry-mind in even better shape.
I have indeed looked at Horton Hears a Who through Millennial lenses, along with a small smattering of other films. (I’d write more, but it’s kind of time-intensive.) If you wanna practice seeing the Millennialness in the movies, you should be able to rent most of these! Here’s the list:
- (500) Days of Summer, Surrogates, and Whip It (during last fall’s Millennial Movie Mish-Mash blog event)
- Whip It (full review)
- Post Grad
- “Every Reason I Needed to Know for College Ministry I Learned from Transformers 2” (a tongue-in-cheek look at a terrible movie)
- Horton Hears a Who
- The Social Network – I wrote about it here (first reactions) and here (about what it says about college ministry). I plan to look at the specific Millennial-ness soon
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On Monday, I reviewed the new documentary Cool It; today I wanted to list some ways we might use it in our campus ministries.
Basically, Cool It is a helpful primer on environmental concerns that also provides an intriguing critique – aimed not so much at the prevalent science as much as at the present attempts to deal with climate change. (Remember, the movie doesn’t deny climate change is happening, and it doesn’t deny it’s a problem. This is not a particularly “right wing” film.)
A random example of the Cool It approach: Lomborg, the movie’s protagonist and narrator, argues that while present efforts to slow climate change will perhaps save one polar bear a year, many more polar bears would be saved if we simply quit shooting lots and lots of them.
There’s lots of neato inventions, too. And animals. I like animals.
If your college ministry needs to talk about this issue or if you’re on a campus that might be drawn to these sorts of discussions, I encourage you at least to go see Cool It. Then you can decide if you want to make use of it and/or the Bible-based discussion guide provided by Reel Truths (which doesn’t look like it requires actually seeing the film).
In any case, here are some ways Cool It might be a help to you as a college minister:
- It may help you catch up in the climate change discussion, regardless of what you believe. (It sure helped me catch up!) Do you know what “cap and trade” is? How much money is being spent on this issue? What happened in Copenhagen just this year? Understanding these climate change issues will at least help you discuss it, as needed, among your campus tribe.
- In general, something like this is great for kicking off discussion about how and why we help the world (both its people and the planet). Watching this movie with a bunch of students and then discussing it (even just over yogurt) would be a fruitful time.
- Specifically, Cool It proposes a vital question: What does it mean to truly impact our world for good? As Christians, we should be leading the charge to love in deeds and truth and not just “words and tongue.” As one person in the movie puts it, “It’s not about feeling good about yourself, it’s about actually doing good.” Could that be any more relevant to college students on our campuses?
- Another specific application from this movie is simply being wise about our stances. The movie helps (it seems) to balance out the arguments. If anybody needs to learn always to back up their zeal with knowledge AND not immediately assume that the popular or emotional arguments are automatically correct , it’s collegians.
- It’s a movie! And that provides a natural way to get students involved – including students who wouldn’t normally be interested. Couple that with discussion, and you’ve got a neat springboard. The study guide puts it this way:
While a movie provides the framework of discussion, the Bible informs the nature and the direction of the discussion. Your goal through each discussion, therefore, is not necessarily to cover every theme from the movie or to get to every movie clip. Instead, it should be to use the themes of the movie to point each person in your group to God.
I’d encourage you to check out the study guide. As I skimmed it, I was impressed – it’s got links to movie clips, great discussion starters, and so on. They’ve made it easy to discuss this from a spiritual standpoint, with Christians and non-Christians alike.
The movie’s main site is here, and you can find out if it’s in your city now or is opening this weekend.
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